Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/416148
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS WhenCVSPharmacy moved from Belle Mill Landing, it was because they wanted to have a drive-up window. Their new digs on south Main provides them with just that. But, it wasn't too long ago that such a need was un- heard of. True, we had drive- in fast foods, and even drive- in movies, but none provided drive up window service from a retail standpoint. However, sources say that drive-up voter registration is available in Ha- waii, drive-up liquor stores are found in Arizona and Texas — just asking for DUIs I'd think — Las Vegas has drive-up wed- ding chapels and in Connecti- cut, you can find a law firm of- fering drive-up advice — for a fee, of course. Would a drive- up funeral home be just around the corner? A Stiff in The Box? Of course not. Bad joke. ••• After nearly 40 years in the real estate business, I've col- lected photos of buildings that were landmarks of a sort, but are no longer with us. One al- bum is titled, "Landmarks Destroyed or Renovated." I thought of those photos when I read Jon Carroll's recent S.F. Chronicle column which be- moaned the passing of build- ings once seemingly necessary to his way of life. He wrote, "The landscape changes. No matter how much you tell yourself that change is inev- itable, that only our adapta- tion to it is subject to our will, things keep disappearing. The older you get, the more you are burdened by layers of mem- ory. You remember good times and the places where you had those good times. As those places vanish, your memories seem to have become invalid." I find this all too true, and not only buildings but the de- terioration of people as well. From my window on the world at Main and Walnut I see for- mer employees, once young and powerful capable of pack- ing 350-pound quarters of beef into trucks, now only able to maintain a slow shuffling gait. Then I saw a fellow I've known for years headed toward the post office. He's retired and looks pretty good for his age. Apparently his previous white collar job has spared him from the roles of the handicapped, but then I saw his much younger second wife had joined him looking white of hair and thin as a rail and my remem- brance of her in high school quickly faded from memory. ••• Surprised to see the sign changing across the street at 250 Walnut. That would be the office of John C. Trede who apparently is retiring af- ter 40 years as an Allstate In- surance agent. When we think of prominent businessmen in Red Bluff we think of the early days of Albert and Claus Trede of Trede Brothers Saloon at 659 Main Street, and the more contemporary John C. at 250 Walnut. Good show John. ••• Ever wonder what would happen if Shasta Dam failed, if it somehow collapsed? The County Office of Emer- gency Services has a brochure that details, to a certain extent, what would result if such a ca- lamity ever occurred. My father's admonition many years ago was, "Jump in your car and head for Mineral." The report was a little more informative and instructive than that, but we find, alas, the brochure is outdated, and the Department of Emergency Services is now in the process of drafting a new report. There is no due date for publication of the report, so res- idents may still have to "wing it" and head for the hills if the dam breaks. The outdated bro- chure reports that Red Bluff — at least the high ground west of the river — would probably suf- fer no more than 3 inches of rushing dam water. The Ante- lope area would not be so fortu- nate. Building permits in said area have for years required an elevation survey and new struc- tures were required to be built higher than a worst case "hun- dred year flood"would indicate. Whether this flood would re- flect a dam burst is not known. When we built in Antelope, on the banks of Salt Creek Overflow back in 1957, upon the advice of Bob Crowder, we built our house on an Indian mound, for he assured me they never flood. So far he has been proven right, but Shasta Dam was constructed after the In- dians inhabited the area and all bets are off if the dam were reduced to rubble. When the new maps come out, I shall get one and it will certainly provide something better than "Get in your car and head for Mineral." However, what about your animals? Ad- vice in the old brochure states owners should provide for car- rying containers or cages on trailers. But for large animals, they advise, "Turn them loose to fend for themselves." I couldn't do that, could you? Tsk, tsk. ••• Stan Statham reports in his column that 23% of those who voted in the last election claimed no party affiliation. That is a very good start in my book. ••• D. Rhinehart checks in re- garding bird flu: "Researchers for the Mas- sachusetts Turnpike Author- ity found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. "A Bird Pathologist exam- ined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's re- lief, confirmed the problem was definitely not Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts. "However, during the de- tailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analyzing these paint residues it was deter- mined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car. MTA then hired an Ornitho- logical Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the dis- proportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills. He very quickly concluded the cause. When crows eat road kill, they al- ways have a lookout crow nearby to warn of impending danger. They discovered that all the lookout crows could shout 'Cah' but not a single one could shout 'Truck.'" Uh huh… RobertMinchisalifelongres- ident of Red Bluff, former col- umnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmur- ray@hotmail.com. I say Living in the age of the drive through Cartoonist's take To call the grotesque drub- bing suffered by the Democratic Party in the midterms monu- mental, is like referring to the surface of the sun as warm. The scene was so grisly, acutely sen- sitive Democrats (most of them) were forced to avert their eyes or risk anaphylactic shock. If you ever wanted to see numbers bleed, this was your night. Surprised no referee jumped onto the CNN set, rang a bell, and raised the Koch Brothers' hands triumphantly in the air. The big question is how much the FCC will fine the networks for airing the elec- tion returns, thereby expos- ing young viewers to such gro- tesque brutality. Back in 2010, President Obama described the midterm losses as a shellacking; this was more of an epic trouncing with faint overtures of catastrophic putrescence. Political junkies who stayed up late were treated to a front row seat at a world championship seal-clubbing fi- nals. Rated ZV for zombie vio- lence. Yes, indeed, the world has changed, but just a little. The Senate is now controlled by Re- publicans, much like it was be- fore. The House did turn a darker red and several Gov- ernorships moved into the GOP column, including Illi- nois, Massachusetts and Mary- land, which was as expected as Tiffany eggs in a litter box. But Washington will stumble on. Grand postures will be as- sumed. Little will get done. Pol- itics as usual continues. On this night, finding liberal silver linings was tougher than a truck stop steak. Marijuana legalization passed in Alaska, Oregon and DC, and minimum wage increase propositions won victories. The lone big GOP loser was Former Massa- chusetts Senator Scott Brown, who ran for the same office in New Hampshire, giving him the unique distinction of be- ing the first truck driving male model to lose 2 US Senate races to 2 different women in 2 differ- ent states. Rumors abound he is currently scouting for property in Maine and Vermont. Many reasons were given for the democratic debacle. Dark money poured into ads at the last minute. President Obama as a third rail. Establishmen- tarians keeping the Tea Party down. Young people and Afri- can Americans staying home. New episodes of NICS and NCIS: New Orleans. One or the other, okay, but both? Even amidst the carnage, the two sides did their best to make the requisite bi-parti- sanship noises of nice. Day af- ter the election, soon-to-be Sen- ate Majority Leader Mitch Mc- Connell, held a press conference to announce he wants to work with the president. Of course, he was hard to understand, fail- ing to turn off the chainsaw be- hind his back during the press conference. Yeah. The GOP wants to work with the president. The same way a 5-year-old with a magni- fying glass wants to work with ants. Like a gorilla wants to work with bananas. A 10-ton boulder falling off a cliff wants to work with windshields. Obama should promise Re- publicans twice the amount of cooperation he received after the 2012 election. Because as everyone knows; 2 times zero is still zero. But despite increas- ing odds, the president says he is still ready and willing to fight for his agenda. As soon as he figures out what it is. Staff- ers boast he doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit." Ap- parently, he's not overly famil- iar with the words "consensus," "strategy" or "leadership" ei- ther. Will Durst is an award- win- ning, nationally acclaimed po- litical comic. Go to willdurst. com for more about the docu- mentary film "3 Still Standing," and a calendar guide to per- sonal appearances such as his hit one- man show "BoomeRag- ing: From LSD to OMG." Email Will at durst@caglecartoons. com. He will be performing Sat- urday, Nov. 15 at Red Bluff's State Theatre. Call 529-2787 or visit statetheatreredbluff.com for information. Will Durst Obama and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day When we think of prominent businessmen in Red Bluff we think of the early days of Albert and Claus Trede of Trede Brothers Saloon at 659 Main Street, and the more contemporary John C. at 250 Walnut. Robert Minch Many reasons were given for the democratic debacle. Dark money poured into ads at the last minute. President Obama as a third rail. Establishmentarians keeping the Tea Party down. Young people and African Americans staying home. New episodes of NICS and NCIS: New Orleans. One or the other, okay, but both? Assemblyman Dan Logue 150Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95928, 530895- 4217 Senator Jim Nielsen 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator.nielsen@senate. ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown State Capital Building, Sacra- mento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916558-3160, governor@ governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa 507Cannon House Office Build- ing, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393- 0707, fax 415393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer 1700Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286-8537, fax 202224-0454 Contact your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, November 14, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4